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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30133725">reason will not lead to solution (i will end up lost in confusion)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jump_the_gunn/pseuds/jump_the_gunn'>jump_the_gunn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, FW2021.1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 16:49:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,433</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30133725</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jump_the_gunn/pseuds/jump_the_gunn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione feels some kind of way when she's around Fleur but she's having a hard time figuring it out</p><p>(prompt: jealousy for fleurmione week 2021)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fleur Delacour/Hermione Granger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>137</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fleurmione Week 2021.1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>reason will not lead to solution (i will end up lost in confusion)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>1994, Hermione's Fourth Year at Hogwarts</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Hermione reflexively reached up to smooth down her curls. Her hand was halfway to her hair before she remembered that she'd put nearly a galleon worth of magical goop on it and there would be no flyways to smooth. Changing her hair for the night felt like something she ought to do. Just like she knew the moment she asked, she was supposed to agree to go to the Yule Ball with Viktor. He was nice, and she had thought maybe once she was at the Ball with him, she would feel what she was meant to feel. So far though, all Hermione felt was bored.</p><p>The Champions and their dates had been corralled into a room off the side of the Great Hall so they could be announced. Harry was whispering with Parvati, Hermione could hear enough to tell that apparently he had not realised a dance was required. Parvati was urgently explaining to Harry how to waltz, using her fingers on her palm as a guide.</p><p>Cho and Cedric were the only people in the small room who looked at ease. Viktor had a silent tension in his body that Hermione suspected was not too dissimilar pre-Quidditch nerves. Hermione couldn't help but notice the nauseating way Roger watched Fleur. Up close, and she'd never quite been this close to Fleur before, it was even easier to see why boys drooled over her. Fleur's skin was flawless, her eyes were so bright, and she smelled amazing.</p><p>Again, her hand reached up reflexively. Then she remembered the goop Ginny had helped her with. Watching perfect, beautiful Fleur and the way Rodger gazed at her adoringly, Hermione felt this strange feeling flare up. It burned like anger but had an after kick that wasn't so dissimilar from the homesick feeling she'd had when she first arrived at Hogwarts. Sitting on the feeling a minute Hermione decided the afterburn was a kind of longing. Hermione was an only child, only grandchild and first in every test and class. Hermione had never had an occasion to feel jealousy before, so it took her a minute to realise that it was jealousy she was feeling.</p><p>For a logical girl like Hermione, reasoning her way through a feeling was always a fallback. Mentally, while they waited, Hermione deconstructed her jealousy. She had felt jealous when she was observing how beautiful Fleur was. She'd recently become more aware of how much work she had to put in for others to think she was beautiful. Therefore, she was simply jealous that Fleur was naturally and effortlessly stunning.</p><p>With that problem solved, Hermione recognised the feeling for what it was. As they were called out for their dances the feeling faded and was replaced by nerves. Then amusement as she watched Harry hopelessly try to dance with Parvati. As she watched Harry flounder, she noticed Roger holding Fleur in his arms while they flew across the dancefloor. And the jealousy flared again. She felt pangs of jealousy again several times that evening. Seeing Fleur slip out of the hall, leading Roger by the hand. The way late into the evening Fleur still looked flawless laughing with Roger while Hermione felt her own hair steadily gaining frizz and her make up start to rub off.</p>
<hr/><p>About a week later Hermione noticed Fleur in the library, despite the late hour and mundane situation the other girl was simply glowing. Not a single hair out of place. A Beauxbatons boy she wasn't familiar with appeared to be proof reading Fleur's essay. Something he said made Fleur smile, her teeth pearly white and perfectly straight, two actual dimples appearing on her face. And suddenly Hermione was feeling jealous again. Unable to take the feeling Hermione gathered her things and hurried out of the library.</p><p>It kept happening. Always a similar scenario, she'd see Fleur around notice how physically flawless she was, how men were throwing themselves at her, and the feeling of jealousy would come. There was nothing that knowledge couldn't combat, Hermione knew that. She knew from experience that Flourish and Blotts was able to order in Muggle books upon request and was able to procure a Psychology textbook. After finishing the textbook, armed with knowledge, Hermione was able to figure out the feeling. Yes, it was jealousy. The reason Fleur made her feel it. She was projecting her own insecurities about her physical image onto Fleur. That's all.</p><p>When Hermione returned back to Hogwarts the following year, with no Fleur around, the feeling went away. And Hermione thought no more of it.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>
    <em>1996, The Summer Before Hermione's Sixth Year at Hogwarts</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>As much as she liked to spend time with her parents and have her own room, there was something charming about the chaos of the Burrow. Which was why, when Ron's owl arrived inviting her to spend time there, she had readily accepted. Even though it meant spending the rest of the summer sharing a bedroom with Ginny before spending the whole year at Hogwarts sharing. Hermione mused that, for an only child, she was relatively good at sharing as she packed her trunk for both the remainder of the summer and the school year to come.</p><p>Hermione's parents dropped her off at the Burrow in the middle of a Monday, closing their clinic for the day. After they had a friendly chat with Mrs. Weasley and helped her unload her trunk, Hermione waved them off, knowing she wouldn't see them until the following summer. After a few moments of catch up with Fred, George, Ron and Ginny, Mrs Weasley insisted that Fred and George carry Hermione's trunk up. As the others walked ahead Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm, urgently whispering, "This isn't going to be like last summer Hermione. We have to share the room with…"</p><p>Ginny looked urgently to see if Mrs. Weasley was out of earshot. Noticing her mother was only a few feet ahead, she clearly decided that it was too risky to finish her sentence. Ginny just gave her head a little shake and changed the subject. Hermione was intrigued. The Weasley family had the same antiquated and arbitrary rules about bedroom allocations at Hogwarts, so it had to be another girl they were sharing with.</p><p>It was only once they had been left alone to unpack, Ginny double checking the landing was empty that Hermione was able to get more information from her. "It's simply awful Hermione! Fleur Delacour from the Triwizard tournament, French Fleur, well she's staying here! She got a job at Gringotts and works with Bill. They've become friends and given everything that's going on with you-know-who, Bill asked mum and dad if she could stay with us. And the idiots said yes!"</p><p>Hermione was a little taken aback, she'd never known Ginny to be deliberately mean, but this was such a strong reaction. She wasn't given much time to respond as Ginny took a deep breath and continued on, "She's got all the boys in this house mooning after her like lovesick puppies and it makes everything so awkward. And I mean, that's just like my brothers, so ewww, whatever. But Harry gets here next week and…"</p><p>And with that last revelation Hermione understood why Ginny was so bothered by Fleur.</p>
<hr/><p>It as a near perfect afternoon, the sun was out, and they had all made their way to a nearby field. Hermione was sitting on a blanket with a good book, half watching the Weasley's playing a modified version of quidditch as she read. Hermione was curious to see Fleur again after a few years. She wasn't sure if she was misremembering how beautiful she had thought the other witch was, or if her memory was distorting because of her knowledge of Fleur's Veela heritage.</p><p>As the sun started to sink on the horizon, making the both the quaffle and Hermione's book too hard to see clearly, they headed in for dinner. Walking into the kitchen Hermione stopped dead as Fleur looked up and they locked eyes. She had definitely misremembered how beautiful Fleur was. She didn't think her mind was capable of even storing mental images of a person as stunning as Fleur was.</p><p>"Fucking hell, not you too Hermione…" Ginny muttered under her breath as she pushed past Hermione roughly, breaking her out of the moment. Hermione self-consciously raised her hand to smooth her hair before stalling. In the past year or so she'd learned to be proud of her hair. She thought she'd progressed past that particular nervous habit.</p><p>Embarrassed by Ginny, Hermione joined everyone at the table. It was evident as the meal progressed, for all Ginny's complaining, that only Ron was enthralled by Fleur. And definitely not as badly as he had been at Hogwarts two years before. There was plenty of food and conversation to be had as everyone caught up. Hermione couldn't help but watch Fleur, she seemed confident in talking to Bill but was reserved with everyone else.</p><p>Ron, Ginny had been asked to wash up after dinner by Mrs Weasley, and Hermione had offered to help wanting to spend time with her friends anyway. Ron was particularly annoyed by the request and after checking that his mum wasn't in earshot he exclaimed, "She could bloody well do it, would only take the swish of a wand!"</p><p>Only, when Ron gestured dramatically to show how easily it could be done by wand, he knocked a particularly large pot into the sink. The water splashed up and soaked Hermione's shirt.</p><p>"You bloody idiot Ron!", Ginny exclaimed. Hermione quickly interrupted her before she got in the middle of a sibling argument, "It's not a big deal Ginny! We're almost done, and I'll just change into my pyjamas anyway."</p><p>As Hermione approached the room that she shared with Ginny, and now Fleur she felt nervous. She could hear movement on the other side of the door and knew it was either Fleur or the ghoul that haunted the Burrow. She gingerly opened the door to find Fleur looking expectantly.</p><p>"Hello Hermione, we didn't really get a chance to talk at dinner. But I hope you have been going well this last year?", she asked shyly as Hermione walked into the room. Her voice was soft and her English lightly accented.</p><p>"You remember me?" Hermione asked, then immediately wished the questionable architecture of the Burrow would suddenly collapse. She felt so awkward, obviously the Weasleys had told Fleur she was coming.</p><p>Fleur smiled reassuringly, "Of course. I used to see you at the library often and you were dating Viktor…"</p><p>"Oh no! Never dating! Just friends." Hermione interjected, before immediately feeling stupid again. Reaching for a change in subject she remembered she had been asked a question, "And I've been well this past year, despite it all. How are you going living here now?"</p><p>There was a pause as Fleur considered her answer, "I am homesick, I miss hearing French and seeing my family."</p><p>Hermione had not expected Fleur to be so forthright, she suspected that it was because, like Fleur, she was an outsider in this house. She replied haltingly and in poor French, "I used to vacation with my family in France, so I speak a little French. But perhaps hearing bad French is much worse than hearing none at all?"</p><p>Fleur actually laughed. Hermione had never heard anything so beautiful. At a cadence Hermione was sure was slower than she normally talked Fleur replied in French, "Even bad French helps, please keep talking to me in French."</p><p>As she opened her mouth to reply, Hermione was interrupted by Ginny walking in. "You didn't even change yet! C'mon we need you for numbers for exploding snap or else Ron will make me play boring chess again!"</p><p>In her peripheral vision Hermione noticed Fleur pick up a book and exit the room. The game of exploding snap had to be one of her worst, she was terribly distracted. Fleur and Bill were conspicuously absent from the living room. Ginny kept giving her sly looks but knew better than to bring anything up in front of Ron.</p><p>It was on the way to bed that evening, as they passed Bill's room, Hermione heard Fleur's melodic laughing from his room. And from its years long slumber, her jealousy awoke.</p><p>Hermione tossed and turned as Ginny snored softly. Fleur's bed was conspicuously empty. Thinking about that empty bed, knowing Fleur was somewhere else, made the jealousy burn hotter. It occurred to Hermione that she hadn't felt jealousy since she'd last been around Fleur. She had spent plenty of time around people who had made her feel insecure, Padma had a flawless complexion, Ginny had perfect teeth and Angelina's hair was beautiful. It was something specific about Fleur, that made her jealous. It took Hermione an embarrassingly long time to realise, she wasn't jealous of Fleur for attracting men. She was jealous of the men Fleur was giving her attention to.</p><p>When Fleur eventually slipped back into the room Hermione was still wide awake. Ruminating on what exactly this revelation meant about her.</p><p>The remainder of the summer at the Burrow was simultaneously heaven and hell.</p><p>Hermione was rewarded with stolen moments. When they were alone in the bedroom or if they were getting morning cups of coffee at the same time they would converse in halting French. At first the conversations had been mundane. Hermione talked about her day and Fleur would chat about her job. As Hermione's confidence in French grew, she began to talk about her worry about the OWLs she would soon be receiving. Fleur confided that she needed to study with Bill late into the night to ensure they didn't fail at their tough cure breaking job.</p><p>The hell was due to Hermione being undoubtedly, very attracted to Fleur. And Fleur it seemed, was attracted to Bill. Every time she saw them talking, laughing, exchanging looks she was so jealous. That Fleur had become her confidant only made it worse. She was the only one Hermione wanted to talk to about this, and the only one she couldn't.</p><p>It was only after she arrived at Hogwarts and was unpacking her trunk, she found a small package in her trunk. Excitedly unwrapping it she found it was a pocket French dictionary, inside the cover Fleur had written a small note in French, which read <em>"Use this to write to me and practice your written French. May we meet again. Fleur xx"</em></p><p>That very night Hermione started her first letter to Fleur.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i meant to do more with this but life got in the way! here is a little drabble for Fleurmione week, seeing how active everyone was on Tumblr for this ship motivated me!! thanks for organizing!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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